It's a sad fact that clearing unexploded ordnance is one of the world's great growth industries.

At current rates of progress, it would take about 1,000 years to remove all the mines and bombs that menace the hot spots of the world — and that's if no-one plants any more in the meantime — so there is plenty of work for those with the courage and expertise to do it.

One of the companies that undertakes one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet is based right here in Bermuda. The Development Initiative (TDI), headed by former British Army officer Ed Cross, moved into its new office in XL House this week.

The plush surroundings of the company's corporate headquarters is a world away from the desperate places where it operates — countries like Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Chief executive officer Mr. Cross has teamed up with former XL Capital employee Todd Huras, who lost his job with the Bermuda insurer last year and is now TDI's financial controller.

The company has seven permanent employees, including Hugh Morris, another former army officer, who heads up the operational side of the business. In addition, there are around 200 contracted staff, who do the dangerous work out in the field.

In the four years it has been operating, TDI has cleared 200 million square metres of mine-infested land without ever suffering a casualty.

"We have a 100 percent safety record and that's something we're very proud of," Mr. Cross said yesterday. "We are dealing with articles designed to hurt people. We have a way of working that is very refined.

"Accidents happen when you cut corners. We have a well paid, well trained, well motivated staff and there have been no accidents. Hugh runs the operation properly.

"We made an agreement that I would never ask Hugh to do anything unsafe and he would never ask me to do anything unprofitable."

Mr. Cross and Mr. Morris seeded the business with $1 million they raised four years ago and they raised another $1.6 million 18 months later. Most of their work comes from the United Nations, which seeks tenders for contracts to clear ordnance from war zones. For this year, the UN has a $404 million budget for mine clearance and TDI is one of its accredited service providers.

Entities such as oil exploration companies and construction firms also hire mine clearers. The global private-sector side of the market is estimated to be worth around $250 million annually.

Mr. Cross believes TDI can double the size of its business every year, but the sticking point right now is lack of capital. It's not only that the credit crisis has restricted the flow of credit — it's also the risky nature of their business that dissuades investors.

Equipment is expensive. Fleets of Land Rovers to negotiate the treacherous terrain and mud roads they encounter in countries like Sudan and DR Congo don't come cheap. Armour-plated tractors fitted with a chain flail unit fitted to the front, needed to make the first pass over overgrown, mine-affected areas, cost more than $600,000 each.

"You can tell investors that you're going to buy a tractor and they understand that's a real asset," Mr. Cross said. "Then you tell them that it's going to work in Sudan and they get nervous. Then you tell them that it's going to drive over anti-tank mines and they get really nervous."

Logistics are frequently complicated and costly. "When you go somewhere like Sudan, you have to take everything with you," Mr. Cross said. "You get to the airport at Juba and there is no building, just a mud hut. There are no hire cars, no taxis and no hotels. So you have to bring everything — tents, fuel and food.

"If you're in DR Congo, you might be trying to drive along a road where no-one's driven for ten years. So you have to bring the equipment to clear it. So for a big, 50-man job in Africa, you're going to spend $1 million before you even have a man on the ground."

There is often a two-month lag between laying out the expense to prepare for a job and receiving the first month's payment.

"We're operating from cash flow, but we need to raise more capital if we want to really grow the business," Mr. Cross said. "With the capital we could grow from a $7 million or $8 million company into a $15 million company next year and a $30 million company the year after that. We know we can do it, because the work is there and we have built up a strong brand in the industry.

"Even without the capital we would expect to grow at ten percent per year, which most companies would be happy about in the present environment."

Mr. Cross, 39, attended Sandhurst, the British Army's officer training school, and was commissioned into the Staffordshire Regiment in 1993. He served for 18 months in Northern Ireland and in 1997 was medically discharged, when, as a lieutenant, he injured his knee on operations.

Then he worked in sales for various technology companies while taking an MBA at Birmingham Business School. Running TDI is a perfect fit for Mr. Cross making good use of his military background and his corporate know-how.

Mr. Cross said he hoped to build the company up and eventually take it public, with an initial public offering of shares, most probably on the London-based AIM Exchange. From a corporate governance viewpoint, TDI has been run like a public company from the start, with accounts audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers and two non-executive directors, for example.

Mr. Huras started with the company on January 1, the day after his employment with XL finished. Running the finances of such an extraordinary company has been "a bit different", he said.

"This is the sort of thing I see," he said, pointing to an item on a sheet detailing expenses of a job in Sudan. "Purchase of charcoal to barbecue a goat." Not the sort of thing found on XL expenses forms.

But Mr. Huras also has some past experience that has come in useful for his current job. "Back in Canada, I used to work for Raytheon, which is a huge defence contractor," he said. "So I've had experience of dealing with UN and government contracts and that comes in handy.

"I never thought I'd get a job in Bermuda working for a company that clears land mines. Things have really worked out well."

Mr. Cross, who brought his wife and two children out to Bermuda last summer, said it made good sense to base the business on the Island, rather than the UK, because virtually all of its employees worked outside the UK. Contracting workers through the offshore company meant they could be paid gross, rather than dealing with the complications of UK employment laws and taxes.

Mr. Cross said although his aim was to make a profit, the job was especially gratifying in other ways.

"I'm a capitalist and this business is out to make money for the benefit of its shareholders," Mr. Cross said. "But part of me also wants to make a difference, and making the world a better place while I'm making money appeals to both sides of my nature. For me, this is a dream company."